


Caught Red Handed

by cazmalfoy



Series: Con-Men Do It Better [3]
Category: CSI: Miami, CSI:NY
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-02-03 00:32:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1724585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Horatio and Mac finally catch up with Tim and Danny. How are they going to get out of this mess?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caught Red Handed

Don Flack sighed quietly as he leant against the door jam, looking at his two lovers sleeping soundly in the large king-size bed. The night was warm and at some point Danny had kicked the thin sheet away from him, revealing his naked body to the room.

Tim’s head was resting on the pillow next to his blond lover; one arm was strewn across Danny’s stomach as his leg curled around the other man’s.

He couldn’t help the stab of jealously that flew through him when he thought about them being together while he was alone in New York, trying to pretend he was okay about their current situation.

Reluctantly, he pushed away from the wall and heading into the cool sitting room. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he got into bed and deep down he knew that neither of them were aware of Don’s absence.

Had he remained in his spot, he would have seen Danny roll over and reach out for him, letting out a small whine in his sleep when he discovered Don’s spot empty.

x

It was past midnight and Detective Mac Taylor was still awake and at the crime lab. The photograph in his hands stared back, the blue eyes taunting him. He had been over every piece of evidence and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many angles he approached the case from, nothing changed. 

The Danny Messer they knew had turned out to be nothing more than a con-artist, who had managed to steal millions of dollars from Lindsay. No one had known about the scam until it had been too late and Danny had already made his getaway.

Mac pinched the bridge of his nose and slid the photograph onto his desk. He hated knowing that he hadn’t been able to stop a criminal from escaping and he knew that the open file would remain on his desk for as long as it took to find the couple.

x

Don was drifting off to sleep in a large armchair when someone pressed the power button on the television, shutting the entertainment centre off. He groaned when he felt soft lips press against his own as his blue eyes flickered open.

Tim’s own brown eyes were looking back at him with concern as the other man slid into Don’s lap. “What’s wrong?” he whispered quietly, placing a hand in the centre of the black-haired man’s chest and tracing small circles with his index finger.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Don responded, not wanting to admit the real reason why he wasn’t in bed with the two of them.

“We do miss you, you know,” Tim murmured, pressing his lips against Don’s and gently prying them apart with his tongue. “When you’re not here.”

Don didn’t know why he was surprised by Tim’s comment; Don had always felt like Tim had the ability to see beyond the detective’s eyes into his soul. 

When he didn’t respond, Tim placed his hand under his youngest lover’s chin and made him look at him. “We wish we could be together all the time, but it’s just too dangerous for us to return to New York with you.”

“I know,” he whispered, averting his eyes bashfully. Hearing Tim say what he had been hoping for so long, made the idea seem so ridiculous. “I want to be with you both. Here.”

Tim’s eyes widened and the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a smile. “Really?” he whispered.

Don nodded his head, resting his hands on his lover’s hips. “I can retire from the force. Tell people my injury made me realise that I should enjoy my youth while I’ve still got it.”

Tim chuckled and rested his forehead against Don’s. “That sounds a bit cliché, but we can work that out later,” he whispered, covering the taller man’s mouth once more.

He groaned when he felt Don’s tongue push past his, devouring his mouth hungrily as the hands on his hips slid to cup his ass, squeezing it firmly. Tim ran his hands under Don’s shirt, carefully tracing the slowly fading scars on the other New Yorker’s stomach; pale reminders of how close he and Danny had come to losing the third member of their triangle.

Tim slid off Don, kneeling in front of him and pulling his underwear down to the middle of his thighs. Don groaned as Tim’s mouth expertly worked his sensitive cock to the point of orgasm. As he came in the wonderfully warm cavern surrounding him, all thoughts of jealousy and loneliness left his mind. The only thing that mattered at that moment was the way Tim felt.

With a smile, Tim took hold of the other man’s hand and pulled him out of the chair. He groaned and kissed him passionately, allowing Don to taste himself on his tongue. 

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

Tim grinned and led him back into the bedroom where Danny was still sleeping in the centre of the bed. “It’s a skill,” he replied, carefully sliding into the bed next to their blond lover; Tim on one side of him and Don on the other.

The second Don’s hip touched Danny, the other man rolled over and wrapping his shorter frame around Don. The taller man smiled affectionately when he heard Danny purring with contentment as he continued to sleep.

x

Adam Ross hesitated at the door to Mac’s office, weighing up his options. On one hand, what he was about to tell the former Marine could seriously piss him off; but on the other hand, what he had to share could earn him praise for doing a good job and using his initiative.

“Adam, either come in or leave,” Mac called, not looking up from his desk.

The young lab tech blushed and cautiously entered the room, closing the door behind him. “Sir…” he hesitated before taking a deep breath. “Well, after what happened with Danny I thought I might be able to find a way to locate him.”

Mac’s eyebrow lifted and Adam took that to be a good sign and continued. “I figured out that since they managed to take so much money from Lindsay and Lieutenant Caine without getting caught, that they must be professionals. They had to have done the same thing before to other people.”

“I pulled up some case files from across the country and there have been twelve confirmed robberies in the past fourteen years. In each case the amounts taken were always in the millions and the robbers were never caught and in the majority of them. Most of the time they didn’t have any evidence to lead them to a suspect.”

“How much was taken in total?” Mac asked quietly, resting his elbows on the armrests. 

Adam glanced down at the paper in his hands. “Including what they took from Lindsay and Lieutenant Caine… around thirty million dollars. The oldest robbery happened in 1992.”

Mac accepted the file Adam handed him. “Two million dollars,” he commented, glancing at the paper. “So they started small and worked their way up. Casper, Wyoming,” he read. “So they’re well travelled.”

Adam nodded his head. “The PD didn’t have any evidence at the time so the case went cold.”

“How many robberies did have evidence?” Mac questioned, flicking over the page.

Adam bit his lip in thought. “Two, maybe three cities. The one that looked most promising was Chicago. The PD actually arrested them both but when they were able to prove their alibi’s they were forced to release them.”

“You did all this in your own time?” Mac lowered the file and looked at Adam who was blushing as he nodded. “This is good work, Adam,” he complimented.

“Thank you, sir,” the young man whispered.

“Could you call Chicago PD and get them to send the case file over so we can look into it?” Adam nodded his head, leaving the office as Mac grabbed the phone and quickly dialled a number.

“Horatio, I may have a lead on Danny and Tim…”

x

The elderly woman had seemed confused when Horatio and Mac spoke to her. She had no idea what the two officers were talking about. Outside her room, the warden pulled the two men aside and explained to them that she had dementia and could barely remember the previous day, let alone a robbery that had happened over ten years before.

Resigned to the fact that their trail had once again gone cold, Horatio and Mac booked a flight back to their respective cities. However, it was several hours before either flight would leave the airport and Horatio had suggested going over the local newspapers around the time of the robbery.

The dust on the archives made Mac sneezed loudly as he turned the page, making Horatio chuckle under his breath. “Horatio,” Mac called, beckoning the redheaded man over.

“Did you find the article?” he whispered, sliding into the seat next to Mac.

The Marine shook his head. “No, but look…” he pointed to a picture on the paper.

The ink had faded overtime, making the image barely viewable but Horatio could see enough of the picture to recognise a thin figure in the back, behind a young man and woman.

“That’s Danny,” Horatio breathed. “Does it say his real name?”

Mac frowned and looked closer but shook his head. The majority of the text on the page had been covered by a large stain, which Mac hoped was coffee. The only legible words were the name of a small high school neither man had never heard of. 

x

“1990? I don’t think there are any staff members other than myself who have been here that long,” the woman murmured, pushing her horn-rimmed glasses up her nose as she led Mac and Horatio down several winding staircases towards the basement.

The two men remained silent as the followed, both lost in their owns thoughts.

At the bottom of the stairs she pulled a set of keys out, quickly looking for the correct one and unlocking the door. “No one had been down here for years,” she cautioned them as she pushed the heavy metal doors open.

Horatio choked on the thick dust that filled the air as he and Mac stepped into the dark room, flicking on the light as they went. “I can tell,” he commented, glancing at his surroundings. “We can see ourselves out,” he assured the woman. “Thank you,” he added as she turned on her heel and left them alone.

“This is going to take weeks,” Mac scowled, moving down one row of shelves, his boots echoing loudly in the silent room.

“Do you have a better idea?” Horatio asked, following Mac’s lead and heading down the next isle. 

The dark-haired man remained silent as he scanned the various boxes surrounding him. “How did we manage to let them get away with this?” Mac asked quietly as he was halfway down the isle.

Horatio bit his lip as he continued walking. “They’ve been doing this a long time, if the robberies Adam found were actually connected to them, then they’re experts at conning people.”

Mac leant forward and brushed the thick layer of dust from a label of a nearby box, being careful not to breathe in as the dust particles flew into the air. “We’re looking for 1990, right?” Horatio agreed and Mac pulled the box off the shelf, setting it down on the floor. “I think I’ve found it.”

x

Don sighed and tossed his bag on the couch as he kicked the door closed. His two-week vacation had been eagerly anticipated but as always it seemed as though he had been in Canada for two days before he was forced to leave his lovers and return to the real life and his job.

He glanced around the room and felt depression at being back in the city sink further in. The apartment was almost empty, save for a few non-personal items that he needed to get by on a day to day basis. His most personal belongings were with Tim and Danny’s in a storage facility just outside of Ontario.

Looking at his watch he decided to take a quick shower and head to work. He would be a few hours early for his shift, but at least he would have something better to do with his time, other than pine over the distance between the trio.

x

Mac glanced at the small house in front of him, then back to the piece of paper in his hand. “Are you sure this is the right address?” he asked uncertainly.

“This was the only file with a picture that matched the newspaper,” Horatio replied, climbing out of the rental car. “I told you it was a long shot.”

“Well, we’ve come this far…” Mac sighed, stepping up to the house and knocking lightly on the thin wooden pane.

The house looked as though it were in desperate need of repair and seemed as though a sudden movement would send the building crashing to the ground.

Eventually the screen door opened, revealing an elderly woman wearing a dressing gown and a pair of faded pink slippers. “Can I help you?”

“Ma’am, I’m Detective Mac Taylor, NYPD and this Lieutenant Horatio Caine, MDPD,” Mac introduced them. “Are you Mrs Nichols?” The woman frowned and tentatively nodded her head. “The mother of William Nichols?”

“Billy?” the woman gasped. “Do you know where he is?”

Horatio and Mac exchanged a look. “Ma’am, may we come in?” the Lieutenant asked, turning on the infamous Caine charm.

Mrs Nichols studied him for a long moment before nodding her head and stepping aside to let them into the house. As they stepped over the threshold she informed them that they could leave their shoes by the door.

The interior of the house looked every bit as run down as the outside. Although, both men noticed it was immaculate, not a spot of dust anywhere.

“Mrs Nichols, do you know where your son is?”

The woman shook her head as she rocked her chair back and forth slightly. “I haven’t seen Billy since he dropped out of high school when he was seventeen. Is he hurt?” she whispered, her eyes fearful.

“No, ma’am,” Mac assured her. “He’s not hurt. We’re just trying to locate him. Has he been in contact with you recently? A phone call, a letter, maybe?”

Mrs Nichols smiled. “I get a letter and a phone call from him once a month. He’s such a good boy. He paid my mortgage off for me several years ago. I don’t move as good as I used to, so he hired a young woman to help me. Carly comes once a week. She’s lovely.”

“He sends you money?” She nodded. “A cheque?”

“Cash. Always cash. I tell him not to send actual money but he still does. He uses one of those direct couriers; you know the kind where you have to sign for the delivery?” Mac nodded his head. “But he never tells me where he is. Just that he’s okay.”

“Mrs Nichols, would you mind if I use the bathroom?” Horatio asked quietly, glancing at Mac out of the corner of his eye. 

Mrs Nichols shook her head and pointed Horatio in the direction of the bathroom before turning back to Mac.

The redhead got to his feet and headed down the corridor. As he went, he noticed the walls were lined with photographs of her son during his childhood. An envelope lay on the sideboard and Horatio, after glancing around, pulled out his handkerchief and carefully picked up the envelope.

x

“Thank you for your help ma’am,” Mac said, closing the door behind him as they left the house. 

Horatio was sitting on the top step, putting his shoes back on and Mac joined him. “What did you find?” he asked quietly, slipping his boots on and tightening the laces.

“She has no idea what Billy is doing,” Horatio sighed, resting his head in his hands. “She lives with the hope that he’s going to come back to her one day. His bedroom is exactly like it was when he left it. She doesn’t know anything, Mac.”

Mac remained silent as he studied the slowly setting sun. “Billy was the brightest kid in his class, Horatio. He got A’s in every exam and he was planning on going to business school. She told me, he wanted nothing more than to get out of here. To make it big.”

“He got his wish,” Horatio muttered.

“One day, Billy told her he was going to the big city and would be back as soon as people knew his name.”

Both men got to their feet and headed towards the car. “Apparently, he met someone just before he left. Robert Harris. She doesn’t remember how long they had know each other before Billy left with Rob. But neither of them have been seen around here, or anywhere since. It’s like they dropped off the face of the earth.”

“Rob must be Tim,” Horatio thought aloud. “Does she know anything about his past?” Mac shook his head. “Well, we know they didn’t disappear into thin air. She had an envelope dated two weeks ago; my guess is that she hasn’t remembered to throw it out yet.”

“What did the postmark say?”

“Ontario, Canada.”

x

Don nodded at Adam as he passed. “Hey, do you know where Mac is?” the homicide detective asked.

“He said he was chasing up a lead,” Adam replied. “He might be back, I dunno.” He shrugged. “I gotta put this file on his desk urgently. See you later, bro.”

Don nodded and continued down the hallway to the trace lab where he could see Stella working. “Hey, Stel,” he greeted, pushing the door open.

“Flack!” she grinned, hugging the taller man tightly. “How was your vacation?”

“Visiting family is never a vacation,” Flack forced a smile as he released her. “Where’s Mac?” he asked conversationally. He had an awful feeling something bad was happening somewhere and he didn’t like it.

“He got a lead on Danny,” Stella replied, looking through the microscope at the piece of evidence she was busy analysing. 

At that moment Don’s cell phone rang in his pocket, startling both him and Stella. “Excuse me,” he whispered, stepping outside the lab and pulling the phone out. “Danny?” he asked in concern.

x

Tim placed the groceries on the counter top and yawned. Danny had wanted a special meal and the next thing Tim knew he had been sent to the market to get ingredients.

“So, I’m shopping to get you food and you get to sit here all day playing X-Box?” Tim glared at his lover.

Danny’s eyes never wavered from the television screen and his fingers never stilled. “That sounds about right,” he muttered.

Tim rolled his eyes and turned back to his groceries, pulling various things out and placing them on the counter top. Don had been gone not even two days and they were both already missing him greatly. Danny couldn’t find anything to do with himself and had been playing the X-Box almost constantly to take his mind off Don.

Don and Tim had agreed that the detective should wait a week before handing in his resignation. He would tell his boss that his great-grandmother was ill and needed someone to be with her constantly. That, mixed with Don’s recent injury would be sufficient enough to quell any questions people might have.

A small red light flashed above their heads and both men froze; their eyes locking as they realised what was happening. On the screen, Danny’s character was viciously mauled to death by a wild beast.

“That can’t be… Don isn’t here. We saw him get on the plane,” Danny whispered, his blue eyes widening fearfully.

“It’s not Don,” Tim shook his head. “Whoever that is didn’t use the gate.” He knew the warning light was only activated if someone entered the property unannounced. “We have to get out of here now, Billy,” he stated, his dark eyes completely serious as he moved out of the kitchen. 

Billy nodded and dropped the control, heading into the bedroom where his cell phone was. He needed to call Don; he needed to know what was happening.

As the door was kicked down Don answered the phone, but Billy didn’t have time to explain what was happening before a S.W.A.T. officer entered the room, his weapon trained on him, ordering him to freeze.

Billy raised his hands in defeat, cancelling the call as he moved. He didn’t want anyone tracing the call and finding out about Don. Through the open door he could see Rob on the floor, with his hands cuffed behind his back and a S.W.A.T. officer standing over him.

He opened his hand and dropped the cell phone, allowing it to fall to the floor. “Oops,” he whispered as he stomped on the communication device with the heel of his boot.

Before he knew it, he had been wrestled to the ground and his hands had been roughly cuffed behind him.

They were in trouble, that much was obvious. And he had no idea how they were going to get out of this one.

x

Don’s stomach was in knots as he paced back and forth across the break room. He hadn’t heard from either Billy nor Rob since the phone call that morning and he was feeling more sick with nerves with each passing hour. He had tried calling Billy’s cell several times without success and dialling Rob’s number was giving him an automated message, telling him that the phone was turned off.

“Don,” Mac greeted as he stepped into the break room. “How was the vacation?”

“Okay,” the homicide detective smiled tightly. He wanted to ask Mac if his lead had panned out but knew he couldn’t without giving something away. “Family, you know?”

Adam stepped into the break room, about to say something to Don when he noticed Mac standing there. “Mac, you’re back. I left that file you requested on your desk.”

The Marine nodded and headed down the corridor to his office. Just like Adam said, the brown file was sitting on his desk courtesy of the Chicago PD. With a yawn he flipped it open, his eyes scanning the text. He hadn’t slept since he had returned from Wyoming and he was exhausted. But he knew he couldn’t sleep, not until he heard something from Ontario. 

As he got to the interrogating officer’s report his hazel eyes widened when he saw the name. “Mac,” Horatio called, pushing the door to the office open and sticking his head inside. The redhead had returned with him, to see if there was anything he could do in New York before heading back to Miami. “Is there something wrong?”

“I think they have a partner,” Mac said gravely, lowering the file. “This is a report from Chicago where they were arrested. The interrogating officer? Don Flack Junior.”

Their eyes met for a second before both men darted from the office, heading for the break room where Flack had last been seen.

Don was heading down the corridor towards the elevator when he saw Horatio coming in his direction and the look on his face wasn’t exactly friendly. He took a deep breath and turned on his heel, heading for the stairway. When Mac appeared he stopped in his tracks.

He was trapped, Mac in front of him, Horatio behind him. There was no way out. 

“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Mac whispered, stepping closer to Don and pulling his handcuffs out. “You knew who he was right from the start. What he was planning on doing.”

Don knew he could run, try to fight them off but he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against either man so he remained still as he allowed Mac to cuff his hands behind his back.

“You disgust me,” Mac spat in Don’s ear. “You could have had a brilliant career, yet you threw it all away and for what? Money?”

The black-haired man chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“It’s okay, Don,” Horatio whispered. “We’ll see what your partners have to say when they arrive from the airport.”

x

Rob shifted uncomfortably, the handcuffs were chafing his wrists and he knew he was going to have bruises for days. He hated being cuffed when some kind of fun wasn’t involved.

Thankfully, the officer that secured him in the interrogation room had been kind enough to cuff one hand to the table, leaving the other free so Rob could get somewhat comfortable. 

The door opened and he looked up with a grin on his face. “About time! Do me a favour, unfasten these for me. They’re staring to chafe.” The other man remained silent and Rob rolled his eyes. “You can sit there analysing me all you like, it won’t do you any good. Even after all this time you can’t figure out why I would do this.”

Horatio leant back in his chair and observed the other man. The Tim he thought he knew was shy and self-conscious; yet the figure sitting in front of him had an air of confident arrogance about him.

“It’s not about the money,” Horatio spoke softly. “If it were you would have stopped several years ago.”

Rob pouted, pretending to think over the redhead’s words. “Maybe. Maybe not.” He leant forward, lowering his voice to match Horatio’s. “Maybe I do it for the thrill. The thrill of knowing you’re millions of dollars richer and you didn’t have to do anything except screw a couple of people.”

x

Billy was bored as he sat in interrogation room two, waiting for someone to come talk to him. If he were completely honest with himself he was more than a little scared that they wouldn’t be able to talk their way out of this one. 

He wasn’t stupid, he knew they were in New York and he also knew that the person interrogating him wouldn’t be Don or one of his colleagues. Mac would want to ensure Billy went away for a long time and wouldn’t be able to watch from the sidelines. He just hoped Don had managed to get away from the police before they knew found out about him.

The door opened and, just as he predicted, Mac walked into the room, holding a brown file in his hands. “Danny,” he nodded in greeting as though the two were old friends meeting again after a long separation.

The blond remained silent and Mac shook his head. “I’m sorry, it’s Alex isn’t? That’s according to the passport we found in your house back in Canada.” He remained silent and Mac smirked a little. “Or would you prefer I called you Billy?”

Billy’s blue eyes narrowed when he heard his real name fall from the Marine’s mouth. “How the hell did you find that out?” he whispered.

“You quickly forget. Finding evidence is my job, Billy. We even managed to track down your mother in Wyoming.”

“She has nothing to do with this, leave her alone,” he growled.

Mac chuckled. “We know,” he assured the younger man. “She has no clue where you are or what you’ve been doing for the past seventeen years. All she knows is that you’re doing well for yourself and have earned quite a lot of money.”

Suddenly the door opened and Lindsay stormed into the room. In the blink of an eye she was stood in front of Billy and had slapped him as hard as she could, making his head snap to the side.

“You bastard!” she growled, moving to slap him again.

Mac grabbed her and with a fair amount of difficulty pulled her from the room, leaving Billy alone for a moment; his cheek stinging from the impact.

x

The Marine slammed the door closed and turned to face his colleague. “Lindsay, I know, you’re mad but you can’t just hit him like that.”

“Watch me…” Lindsay snarled, glaring at the closed door as though she could see through it to the other side.

Mac sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair, just as Stella and Horatio exited their respective interrogation rooms. “Any luck?” he asked wearily.

Both shook their heads. “Flack’s not saying a word,” Stella informed them.

“Neither is Rob. All of them seem to think they’re protecting each other if they don’t say anything.”

Mac glanced back at the closed door behind which Billy was sitting, still nursing a stinging cheek. “I called the DA a little while ago, when the paperwork comes through the PD’ll be sending people to drive them to Rikers before their arraignment hearing in the morning.”

“What shall we do until then?” Lindsay asked quietly. 

“Get on with our jobs. They can cool their heels in interrogation until they’re out of here. Personally, I’m sick of the sight of him,” he added, stalking away from the small group as they followed him with surprised eyes.

x

Mac lead Billy out of the room, his hands firmly secured behind his back. At the same moment Horatio led Rob out of the room opposite and down the hall Stella lead Don from a third interrogation room.

All three men glanced at each other with apologetic looks, each of them feeling equally responsible for their current predicament.

They were lead down the stairs where each of them were loaded into a large truck for transportation to Rikers prison. 

“Are you sure it’s wise?” Stella asked as Mac closed and secured the door. “Transporting all three of them together.”

The bulky driver glared at her slightly. “Don’t worry about them, Detective. They’re secured so tightly, not even Houdini could break free without the key.”

Stella smiled bashfully and nodded her head, her brown curls falling in front of her face as the truck slowly pulled out of the parking lot. She turned to face her two companions and sighed when she saw that they didn’t look pleased with their success.

“Come on, guys,” she sighed, wrapping an arm around Horatio’s shoulders and looping another through Mac’s. “We caught them. It’s over.”

Mac shook his head. “Is it?” he asked softly. “We never found out where the money went.”

“And I doubt they’re going to give up the account details once they get in prison,” Horatio added, holding the door open for Stella and Mac to enter the building once more.

x

Sixty minutes after they had watched the three young men being transported, Lindsay ran into Mac’s office and flicked on the television behind his desk, changing to the news.

“This is Linda Rae, CBS news. We’ve just received word that the vehicle in question was carrying three high profile criminals, who successfully managed to steal almost thirty million dollars. Fire and rescue services confirm there are no survivors.”

The camera panned down the street and focused on the charred NYPD van and four body bags lying on the ground.

“They blew up the truck?” Mac asked in disbelief.

Lindsay nodded her head. “Killing the driver as well as themselves. Homicide just called, apparently when the truck exploded, the roof crashed down on all of them, shattering their skulls and teeth. DNA testing is out as well; initial reports from Bomb Squad are saying jet fuel was used in the explosion.”

“Which burns hotter and faster than gasoline,” Mac muttered, never taking his eyes of the screen. “So we have no way of knowing for sure that those bodies really are theirs.”

x

The Maria Louisa was sixty miles off the shore of Miami when the bomb went off, incinerating the truck and hiding that the bodies it contained weren’t who they were supposed to be.

None of them knew who the people were, the driver had told them that they were cadavers taken from a nearby Mortuary just before the criminals were picked up. 

When Nathan McWinters found out his clients would need to leave the country in a hurry, he immediately came up with a plan to both get them out of harms way and give the police something to puzzle over. 

After all, it was his job; he wasn’t paid one point five million dollars a year to let the three young men get arrested. He had even posed as the driver to ensure an easier getaway.

No one suspected that the occupants of cabin 5631 were anything other than three young men who were heading away from Miami for summer vacation.

Rob laughed to himself when he opened a side pocket of his suitcase. Nathan had ensured that the contents of their storage locker were below deck in the cargo hold and their suitcases were all packed and waiting when they arrived.

All their paperwork was in the side pocket, giving them all new aliases and backgrounds. 

In Rob’s there was a set of keys and a note, which he pocketed as he placed the suitcase on the floor and turned to face Don, who was lying on the bed reading.

“Where’s Billy?”

“He said he was going to get some air. He looked a little green, like he was going to be sea sick or something.”

Rob frowned slightly, before telling Don he was going to see if he could find their other lover.

It didn’t take long to find him; Billy was standing on the upper deck, leaning against the railing as he looked out over the vast ocean. 

“Hey,” Rob whispered softly, stepping up to the railing. Billy offered him a tight smile but otherwise never changed his expression. “You wanna tell me what’s wrong?” he asked quietly, leaning back against the railing so he could look at the other man.

The blond sighed and lowered his head for a moment before looking into Rob’s brown eyes. “I was scared, Rob,” he admitted.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Billy shook his head. “No I mean really scared. I think we went too far to get involved with the police. You know I didn’t like the idea of us splitting up in the first place, especially not when we were constantly surrounded by cops.”

Soothingly, Rob ran his hand up Billy’s arm; after seventeen years it still amazed him how much like a vulnerable child his lover looked when he was scared. “Shh…” he cooed. “You had Don with you. Everything worked out fine.”

“But it almost didn’t,” Billy argued, turning away from the other man. “I was so scared we weren’t going to get out of it that I was ready to confess everything. All the id codes, passwords and everything. I almost rolled on the two of you and that thought terrifies me completely.”

Remaining silent, Rob tightened his arms around Billy, holding him close as he continued to talk. “Mac found out everything about my past. I don’t know how he did it, but he even managed to track down my mom for fuck sake!” He paused. “Do you think they found your father?” he whispered.

Rob scowled, his brow furrowing with hatred as he thought of the older man. “If they did, all they would have found was an old drunk whose only son ran away to get away from the beatings and abuse.” 

He sighed and pushed the memories and hate to the back of his mind, forcing himself to come back to the present situation. “You don’t have to worry about Mac anymore. They think we’re dead, they’re not going to catch us. We’re okay.”

Billy shook his head, laughing lightly. “Mac isn’t going to give up. He’ll know those bodies aren’t really ours.”

“And when he realises, we’ll be on another continent and Mac will never realise it.”

The blond remained silent as he leant against Rob’s chest, breathing in his scent and allowing the sound of his heart beat to soothe him.

“I have a surprise,” Rob whispered, pressing his lips against Billy’s hair.

His blue eyes lit up as he looked on eagerly. Chuckling to himself, Rob reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys. “Don and I were planning on surprising you with this before everything went south but… he was going to retire from the force and stay with us permanently.”

“Nathan arranged all the paperwork and the finances, so I’m now the owner of a small villa in the middle of Spain’s countryside. I got it put in one name only just in case they think to look in over countries. Three men buying a house would look a bit more suspicious, don’t you think?” he smirked.

“Besides, now you can make love to me and no one will be around to hear me scream,” he whispered in Billy’s ear, tugging on the pierced lobe with his canine teeth.

Billy shivered a little. “How did you know I said that?” he murmured.

Rob grinned and kissed him deeply. “A little birdie told me.”

The younger man slid his hands up Rob’s back, threading his fingers through his curly black hair as Rob pushed him lightly against the railing, devouring his mouth hungrily.

“Do you remember when we first met?” Billy whispered, when they broke apart for air.

He laughed and rested his forehead against the other man’s. “You mean the day I got completed drenched and ended up in a bar I wasn’t legally old enough to be in where you were doing your homework in the corner? I think I vaguely remember that.”

Billy ran his fingers up and down Rob’s spine, making the other man shiver. “I remember Keith grilling you about your age and refusing to serve you in the end because he didn’t believe you.”

“I never did thank him,” Rob mused, kissing his lover softly. “If he’d given me a beer I probably wouldn’t have ended up in the corner helping a certain person with his History homework.”

The kiss gradually deepened; both men desperate to reconnect with each other, until a voice sounded from the side of them.

“Am I going to have to call security?” Don asked in amusement. “We have children on board, you know?”

The two broke apart, both flushed and panting. Billy grinned and grabbed the front of Don’s shirt, roughly pulling him close and kissing him hard.

Don whimpered when Billy released him as the need for oxygen became too strong. “You told him?” Don asked Rob, his lips forming a pout when he saw the keys in Billy’s hand.

Rob lowered his head bashfully. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Billy laughed and dragged both of them closer, hugging each one tightly. “Thank you,” he murmured, surrounding himself completely with Don and Rob.

“We didn’t do it just for you,” Don commented, running his hand up and down the other’s back. “We want to be the ones pinning you down and making you scream.”

The End


End file.
